Week 180: Easy seizy

February 12, 2022

I spent the first part of this week in our bedroom. It is refresher lilac, with a bare plaster ceiling. It’s an odd shape as it’s in the roof so it has a lot of diagonal walls. It was plastered last week and I managed to hoover some of the dust up but, after spending a lot of time in here, not enough.
Instead of curtains there is a roller blind which needs cleaning but I can’t be bothered to do it, because I’m just going to take it down instead. The previous owners had put blinds in nearly every room and I don’t understand it. I guess they like it to be really dark to sleep but I don’t find that to be a problem.
We don’t have a bed, still, so the mattress is on the floor.
In response to wee man’s easy seizy brain chem we bought a seizure alarm for overnight. I asked around and quite a few people made suggestions ranging from very consumer-tech (the owlet sock, for example) to much more medical tech. The one we chose in the end was the Alert It Companion Mini, which is firmly in the “medical tech” camp. So much so that you can pay for it via cheque and you have to declare that you are VAT exempt (as it is for someone who has seizures). Can’t really review it yet because the only useful test will be if C has a seizure in his sleep and the alarm goes off. Let’s hope that never happens!!!111
The birds have started singing again. They’re so loud that sometimes in the garden I feel like I’m in an episode of Gardener’s World. On Monday morning our bedroom was humid, a combination of it having recently been plastered and my own sweaty covid sleeps. I opened the window and lay on the bed in a sunbeam listening to the birds and the sound of the trains going into Brighton.
Our street has gone permit-parking only for 2 hours per day but it is enough to have cleared off 90% of the cars which I am delighted by. My particular least-favourite car was the one parked outside the church which had a note in it that said “THIS CAR IS NOT ABANDONED, IT IS MY TRACK CAR AND MY STREET DOESN’T HAVE FREE PARKING”. Bye Felicia!
On Thursday, just as I was starting to feel better I was freed from my isolation by Lachie testing positive. This meant instead of returning to work to tentatively pick back up the two really significant pieces of work I want to get back to, I am looking after both kids who can’t go to nursery.
Although I don’t have many remaining covid symptoms now, I do feel tired and get out of breath going up the stairs.
On Friday Charlie had two seizures. The first one was just a four minuter, so we did nothing, because he’s had much worse before. Four hours later, he had a second one, which is a new thing so, per the advice, we called 999.
The paramedics arrived and put on their hazmat gear because of the covid. One of them barely made it through the front door before making a u-turn and saying “I can’t be in there”. Weird, I thought, must be a covid thing. Charlie was lying on the floor in the recovery position (a precaution the 999 handler always makes us take). We had been playing in the living room all day and had cleared space on the floor, knowing the paramedics would need it, so he was surrounded by some empty carpet, a load of brio train track, a large quantity of duplo and then about 50 pastel coloured balloons of all sizes.
The other paramedic quickly determined we should go to children’s a&e, and as we were leaving said “she can’t go in there because she has a balloon phobia”. Blimey. I couldn’t really have set that up any worse for her.
In a&e we were put in a side room. I got my period and bled on the exam bed because I didn’t want to disturb the nurses with the hoo-ha of getting me (a covid positive person) to a toilet. A nurse brought us an egg mayo sandwich, a muller vitality yoghurt and two plastic cups of apple juice with foil on top.
The room had peeling decals of winnie the pooh, eeyore, and kanga. There was a space where a tigger decal once was, but now just a shadow of unfaded paint remained.
We were in a&e for 6 hours. A short stay in comparison to some previous trips.
The day after an a&e trip I always have various unusual muscle pains. The work of keeping 19 month old C, who is about 11kg, calm and comfortable, basically involves holding him in my arms until he is quiet, and then not moving for as long as possible, maintaining whatever position I have ended up in.
I’m out of isolation on Tuesday.
I hope I get to watch Encanto again soon.